Plot: Delenn rendezvouses with the Minbari warcruiser
Tukari, a ship controlled by the
religious caste. Shai Alyt Neroon of the warrior caste has arrived on board as
well. Delenn and Neroon discuss the growing crisis on Minbar – which has now
broken out into full civil war – and agree to work together to stop the growing
chaos. Some of the religious caste on board, however, believe that Delenn means
to surrender to the warrior caste and decide to use poison gas to wipe out all
occupants of the ship, including themselves, so the religious caste will keep
fighting. When they learn that Delenn and Neroon plan to stop the civil war by
cooperating, they panic and try to stop the gas spreading, only to find that
Lennier has already dealt with the situation, despite taking some injuries in
the process.

Back on Babylon 5 Sheridan sets a series of deceptions in
motion, having Marcus and the White Star fleet attack barren asteroids in one
sector, having Voice of the Resistance report that nothing of interest happened
in that sector and having Londo vehemently deny that White Stars are protecting
the borders of Centauri space. Confused, the League ambassadors begin wondering
if their borders are under attack by some kind of new, invisible alien force
and that Sheridan knows that something is going on and has sent the White Stars
to defend Centauri space. They call a meeting of the Babylon 5 Advisory Council
(the first in some time) and demand that Sheridan send the White Stars to protect
their borders as well. Sheridan agrees, that of course being his plan all
along: to get the alien governments to continue their mutual cooperation that
began during the Shadow War.

Despite his earlier agreement with Delenn, Neroon leaves the
warcruiser in secret at night and flies ahead to Minbar, sending a message to
Shai Alyt Shakiri, head of the warrior caste, that the religious caste has
fallen for the trap. He now has full access to all of the religious caste plans
to defend themselves on Minbar.

MORE AFTER THE JUMP

Dating the Episode: Three
days after Delenn leaves B5 for Minbar (but see inconsistencies below).

The Arc: Delenn meets with Neroon (last seen in C19)
who agrees to help her stop the civil war on Minbar, but he then betrays her
and flies off to rejoin his caste. This plot strand continues in D14.

Getting the Narn and Centauri to agree to let the White
Stars protect their space in D12 is all part of Sheridan’s master plan
to get the League worlds to agree to the same. They do so in this episode.

This episode marks the first reference to Rebo and Zooty, a
fictional (within the show) comedic double act. We get to meet them in episode E8.

Background: Delenn notes this is the second time she’s
seen Lennier near death; the previous occasion was episode C2 when he saved Londo from a bomb.

This episode inverts the traditional Lennier/Delenn dynamic,
where Delenn tries to protect Lennier’s “innocence” (B12, D9). In this
episode Lennier keeps news of the betrayal by the religious caste members from Delenn
to not undermine her faith in the cause.

Straczynski noted that by this point Delenn had fulfilled or
helped fulfil a large number of prophecies related to Valen, the breaking of
the Grey Council and helping defeat the Shadows, after already being the chosen
successor of Dukhat and helping end the war against Earth. The cumulative
effect of all this has been to make her a figure of awe and respect to the
Minbari, particularly the religious caste.

Lennier has had a small part of his lung permanently
removed. He lies, several times, to protect the honour of his caste, which is permissible
by Minbari custom (as noted in A21
and B14).

Three-quarters of President Clark’s cabinet resigned when he
declared martial law, a fact that has not been reported on Earth.

References: Ivanova
notes that Marcus is waiting to speak to Sheridan on “Channel 4.” This was a
reference to the channel that Babylon 5
aired on in the UK.

Unanswered Questions:
How did Lennier learn of his fellow religious caste Minbari’s plan?

Mistakes, Retcons and
Lamentations: This episode and the next make several references to events “since
the war,” particularly by warrior caste members. From context, these are
references to the Earth-Minbari War. This suggests that the Minbari do not
consider the much more recent Shadow War to have been a major conflict. It
appears that the religious caste part of the Minbari fleet undertook the bulk
of the fighting and the warrior caste largely stayed out of it.

Delenn has been gone from Babylon 5 for three days (the
length of a flight from B5 to Minbar). However, this does not quite fit with
the timescale of the previous two episodes, given the length of time it takes
Marcus and Franklin to infiltrate and then exfiltrate from Mars.

Behind the Scenes: This
was a powerful episode for Mira Furlan, who drew on her experiences growing up
in Soviet-occupied Yugoslavia and the outbreak of war. She drew a comparison
between Delenn remembering the city she grew up in with her experiences of
seeing Sarajevo in peacetime and later destroyed by war.

Delenn views scenes from the Minbari capital city, Yedor;
these are actually establishing shots previously used in episodes C16, C19 and D9.

Lennier did the scene where he climbs through the vent and grabs
the gas canister about a dozen times. Every time he did it, the canister failed
to go off as it should have done. Bill Mumy notes this was an incredibly hard
day and one of the longest on set he ever did (about 16 hours in total).

Claudia Christian used a teleprompter to make the news
scenes more realistic. She enjoyed the change of pace, but ultimately was not a
huge fan of Ivanova getting stuck behind a desk reading messages for several episodes.

Straczynski notes that Sheridan learns from his adversaries
as well as his friends: the manipulative side of him in this episode was
something he learned from Londo.

Familiar Faces: Guy
Siner (Religious Caste #1) is an American-born British actor. He is best-known
for playing the role of Lt. Hubert Gruber on the long-running British WWII sitcom
‘Allo ‘Allo! He is also well-known
as a voice artist, particularly on the Star
Wars video games where he played the Imperial Briefing Officer who gives
the player their orders on the classic video game TIE Fighter. He also played General Veers (played by Julian Grover in
The Empire Strikes Back) in Force Commander and Galactic Battlegrounds, as well as providing various voices for Jedi Knight II: Jedi Outcast. He also
played Ravon in the classic Doctor Who serial
Genesis of the Daleks and the
Harbourmaster in Pirates of the
Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl. His numerous other credits include
You Rang, M’Lord?, Seinfeld, I, Claudius and Star Trek:
Enterprise. He is just about the only actor to have credits in the Doctor Who, Star Trek¸ Star Wars and
Babylon 5 franchises.

Chard Haywood (Religious Caste #2) is a Welsh actor noted
for his roles on both American and Australian television. His biggest role was
playing Dudley Butterfield on 1970s American soap opera Number 96.

Review: Another interesting episode with some great
performances, particularly from the ever-reliable John Vickery. However, the other Minbari religious caste come across as a bit thick. Sheridan’s plan to get the League to agree to his plan is also a little too clever
for its own good and almost certainly wouldn’t work if put to the test, relying
as it does on the intelligence of the League ambassadors who, as we’ve seen
previously, are often dumber than a box of frogs. ***

Neroon: “Was that a compliment?”

Delenn: “After a fashion.”

Lennier: “In her world, we are better than we are, we
care more than we care, we act towards each other with compassion. I much prefer
her world to that of my own.”

Plot: Delenn
arrives on Minbar to find the capital city, Yedor, in flames. The warrior caste
has surrounded Yedor and is threatening to level it unless the religious caste
surrenders. Delenn agrees and Neroon convinces Shakiri, leader of the warrior
caste, that the surrender should take place in the ancient Temple of Varenni as
a symbolic act of peace. However, once in the temple Delenn invokes the rite of
the Starfire Wheel, which was used in the days before Valen to solve caste
disputes. A column of intense, searing light blasts down from the ceiling and
Delenn steps in. Shakiri does the same, but cannot endure the pain and retreats
out of it. Delenn remains inside, planning to martyr herself for the cause, but
Neroon carries her out and stays inside himself, announcing his renunciation of
the warrior caste and his embrace of the religious caste. Neroon dies for his new
caste and the religious caste is acknowledged victorious in the civil war, the
warriors shamed by Shakiri’s cowardice.

On Babylon 5 Lyta Alexander is finding it difficult to get
work due to her departure from Psi Corps. Bester arrives on the station with an
offer for her: if she agrees to let Psi Corps dissect her body after her
natural death, she can rejoin the Corps and enjoy all the privileges that
entails. He will also ensure that she is not recalled to Earth or otherwise
made to answer for her two years on the run. Lyta refuses. Garibaldi offers her
a job working for him, but when William Edgars finds out, he contacts Garibaldi
and orders him to fire Lyta. Edgars does not trust telepaths and will not have
them working for him. Lyta is forced to accept Bester’s offer and rejoins Psi
Corps. Garibaldi helps smuggle pharmaceutical supplies through B5 Customs for
Edgars’ company. Zack spots him doing something dodgy but cannot prove that he
is doing anything illegal.

On Minbar Delenn announces the reforming of the Grey
Council, but gives the worker caste a controlling interest in the Council. From
now on, the soldiers and priests will advise the people, as it should be.

Ivanova shows Sheridan some vid footage smuggled onto the
station recently, showing the EAS Pollux destroying five transports
trying to get refugees away from the beleaguered Proxima III colony, under
siege from Earthforce since it tried to break away from Earth last year at the
same time as Babylon 5. Ten thousand unarmed civilians are now dead. Enraged,
Sheridan orders the White Star fleet to converge at Babylon 5. The time for
waiting is over: it’s time to take the offensive against Clark’s forces.

Dating the Episode: The
episode ends on 3 August 2261, as Bester’s personal log entry shows.

The Arc: The civil war on Minbar comes to an end
after Neroon sacrifices himself for the religious caste, despite being born and
spending his entire life in the warrior caste. Delenn refounds the Grey Council
she abolished in episode C10, but gives the worker caste five members
and the warrior and religious castes two members each, meaning the workers can
keep either of the other two castes from causing havoc by themselves, but the
religious and warriors can together block decisions by the worker caste if they
disagree with them and can get support from one worker representative. The place
of the leader will be reserved for a future figure who can restore the balance
to the Minbari race.

Neroon’s conversion from warrior to religious caste echoes
the transition of his mentor and leader, Branmer, from religious to warrior during
the war with Earth, as noted in A17.

Edgars is paranoid and distrustful when it comes to
telepaths, despite the fact he is trying to help them by working on the cure
for a potential telepath virus. We find out more about his plans in D16-D17.

Proxima III broke away from the Earth Alliance, along with
Babylon 5 and Orion VII in episode C10. Orion VII has presumably been
retaken in the interim, but Proxima III remains defiant of Clark’s forces. The
destruction of five refugee ships each carrying two thousand civilians is what
convinces Sheridan to go on the offensive. This sets in motion the chain of
events seen in episodes D15-D20.

Background: This episode takes place exactly three
years after Morden recruited Londo to his cause (in A13) and one year after Kosh’s death (in C13).

There is a seven-hour time difference between Babylon 5 and
Mars.

Since Babylon 5 broke away from Earth, Sheridan, Ivanova and
the rest of the Earthforce staff have been drawing their salaries from the
docking fees.

In the days before Valen, Minbari caste disputes could be
solved by warfare, but as noted in NOV9
the Minbari came to hold the spilling of blood in mass slaughter as anathema. After
that point they used the Starfire Wheel in the Temple of Varenni as a test of righteousness,
with the victory being the one to stand in the light of the fire for the
longest. True Seekers, true believers in the righteousness of their cause,
would martyr themselves as a ultimate show of dedication to their cause.

Shakiri is of the family or clan of Kort.

From 2247 to 2257 Lyta worked for Xenocorp. She spent a year
interned with Psi Corps before leaving for the commercial wing, as we learned
in B19. Lyta was frustrated with the
lack of promotion prospects in Psi Corps: as a P5, she’d never have been more
than a functionary and paper-pusher.

A P5 telepath can sense things up to 25 metres away. Lyta’s
range is much greater since her “enhancements” by the Vorlons.

The Pak’ma’ra homeworld is known as Pak’ma. The Official Guide to Babylon 5 CD-ROMstates that is called “Melat”, so
later reference books use Melat as an alternate name.

William Edgars is one of the ten richest men in the Earth
Alliance but no pictures of him have ever been published.

An Earthforce Starfury squadron supporting the blockade of Proxima
III has defected to the Resistance. Multiple Earthforce ships and squadrons
have recently defected to the rebels.

There is a large medical facility on Beta Durani.

Thanks to the power provided by the Great Machine on Epsilon
III, the Voice of the Resistance broadcasts are punching through the jammers to
reach Earth: Bester has seen them.

The new Grey Council consists of Dhaliri and Bhurlee of the
religious caste, Maztech and Shakat of the warrior caste, and Durlan, Katz, Zakat,
Nur and Varenn of the worker caste. According to Straczynski, some of the old Grey
Council members are on the new one, but none of those we’ve previously met such
as Hedronn or Morann (or Delenn herself).

References: The
EAS Pollux is probably named for the
star of the same name (also called Beta Gem or Beta Geminorum). Pollux is
located 34 light-years from Earth in the constellation of Gemini. It is an
orange giant and is circled by at least one planet, a gas giant named Pollux b
or Thestias. The star, in turn, is named for the Greek mythological figure
Polydeuces. Polydeuces joined the crew of the Argo along with his twin brother, Castor (or Kastor), and fought
alongside Jason.

Shakiri is not a reference
to Colombian singer and songwriter Shakira Ripoll; although she released her
first few albums before this episode of Babylon
5 was written, she did not become well-known in the United States until around
2001.

Bester quotes from Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol.

Unanswered Questions:
Why the hell is everyone treating Lyta so badly? This is never really
explained given how many times over she proves herself a friend and ally to the
B5 crew.

Mistakes, Retcons and
Lamentations: In Voice of the Resistance broadcasts, Beta Durani is noted
as having rebelled against Earth and is accepting refugees fleeing the fighting
on Proxima III. However, Beta Durani is not liberated until D16. It’s possible that Beta Durani
rebelled, accepted refugees, was recaptured, and is then liberated again.

Garibaldi gets from the main docking bay to the Central
Corridor on Red 5 (tailed by Zack) very quickly, at least within a minute or
two. Although Blue and Red sectors are adjacent, the docking bays are located
close to the front of the station whilst Red Sector is located behind the Cobra
Bays, where the connecting arm to the docking sphere meets the main body of the
carousel. It’s still several hundred metres away.

Lyta being turfed out of her quarters despite providing
critical help and support to Sheridan’s cause is strange and hypocritical:
Sheridan vehemently rebels against Earthforce for ordering him to do the same
in episode B7.

On the original US broadcast, the Earthforce destroyer
attacking the transports is shown clearly to be the Agamemnon, Sheridan’s old ship. However, this was a mistake caused
by the “default” Omega model having the Agamemnon
name on it. The model was replaced with the correct name, Pollux, in reruns, the UK transmission
and for DVD.

Lyta is unwilling to scan Garibaldi without his consent in
this episode but was perfectly happy to scan the Centauri telepath in episode C4. Straczynski defended the inconsistency,
noting that Lyta did not personally know the Centauri telepath and that someone’s
life was in immediate jeopardy if she did not act.

Behind the Scenes: Director
Tony Dow was disappointed with the temple set. The CG did not make the place
seem as huge as it should have, and the light coming down the middle was not as
big as it should have been, due to studio space issues preventing a light from
being dangled directly overhead. Instead a mirror was used to reflect the light
beam onto the set and it was impossible to get this to expand in size.

Straczynski notes a parallel between the Minbari Civil War
and the Shadow War: the warriors and priests were the Vorlons and Shadows, telling
the Minbari people what was best for them, but the time came for the workers to
band together and take a stand for themselves.

Dow took twice as long on the scene with Scott Adams that he’d
planned to, due to intense media interest in the cameo (which got its own press
release).

Familiar Faces: Bart
McCarthy (Shakiri) previously played Admiral Coburn on Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, the “pirate secretary” on Murphy Brown and a cab driver on Seinfeld. He would return to Babylon 5 in episode E17, playing the Drazi fleet commander
Daro. His later credits included Beverly
Hills 90210, The SpongeBob
SquarePants Movie, Angel
(playing Nostroyev in Why We Fight), Pretty Little Liars and Sons of Anarchy, where he played the
recurring role of Declan Brogan. His most recent roles include Judge Underwood
on Silicon Valley and Aldo on the
American version of Shameless.

Scott Adams (Mr. Adams) is the creator of Dilbert, a long-running cartoon strips
which gained national fame in the United States for its depiction of boring office
life and politics. In more recent years he has become a noted public speaker,
and gained renewed prominence during the 2016 Presidential Election where he,
at different times, endorsed all three candidates before settling on Donald
Trump. Adams was a major fan of Babylon
5 at the time it began airing and Straczynski gave him a cameo role to
thank him for raising awareness of the series.

Pam Okasaki, Adams’ then-girlfriend, gets a non-speaking
cameo as the Minbari waiting to speak to Garibaldi after Mr. Adams finishes.

Review: This episode is rooted in a rapid, but not
unconvincing, conclusion to the Minbari Civil War (major props to John Vickery
who really sells it), although it could have done with some more development
and build-up. There’s also a lot going on back on B5, with Garibaldi, Lyta,
Zack and Bester all in the mix. This is a busy, watchable episode which ends on
a dramatic as note as Sheridan’s takes the decision to go on the offensive.
****

Bester: “It’s good to see they’re continuing the
fine tradition of hiring from the shallow end of the gene pool.”

Garibaldi: “You looking to hire somebody to find out
what happened to your personality?”

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